[perelin]

As a GLP-1 user im really surprised that this is newsworthy. The mechanism of how these drugs lead to weight loss is appetite reduction. On GLP-1s -> less appetite, off GLPS-1s -> more appetite. Given the general health benefits that are being observed with GLP1-s the only reason to get off them is costs imo. They are absurdly expensive. Hope this will change in the next 10 years with patents running out and generics being available for cheap. The actual cost of production seem to be quite low. Gray/black market has them available for around a tenth of the otc price.

[aishsh]

> Given the general health benefits that are being observed with GLP1-s the only reason to get off them is costs imo

There’s also the perverse incentives wrt broader society. Enabling the average person to control their physical health is orders of magnitude better for society and orders of magnitude less profitable than the current trends.

Maybe a setup where glp drugs are nationalized and only used to further understand why we have an obesity epidemic and eventually finance changes to combat it? Ideally the drug makers would do this without requiring government intervention, but I doubt they will.

[SpicyLemonZest]

What don't we understand about the obesity epidemic? The story seems pretty clear to me at this point:

* Almost everyone has access to a wide variety of delicious food, which we on average enjoy eating more of than is required to maintain a healthy weight.

* We don't want the government to forcibly restrict people's food access.

* Research consistently shows that voluntary portion control works occasionally in the short term and not at all in the long term.

* Many people have proposed specific ingredients or nutrient classes that can be adjusted in a person's diet to resolve obesity, but none to date have checked out.

In principle, I suppose, there could be some crazy diet hack we don't yet know about. But why should we expect that to be the case? To be honest, I think a lot of the existing discourse on this topic was just wishful thinking, because before GLP-1s the bottom line was not "some people need a pharmaceutical intervention" but "some people are just gonna be obese and there's nothing we can do to help them".

[perelin]

100% agree. But that also feels like the elephant in the room somehow. Most western pension systems are stretched to (or beyond) their limits already. I expect that having GLP1-s widely available will extend the life of a LOT of people even further. And then ... what? Im really surprised that nobody talks about that.